Remix culture is something I think about a great deal in the context ofcombinatorial creativity, and no one has done more to champion the popular understanding of remix as central to creativity than my friend and documentarian extraordinaire Kirby Ferguson. So I’m enormously proud of Kirby’s recent TED talk about his Everything is a Remix project, exploring remix culture, copyright and creativity — watch and take notes.

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Stompy, a giant six-legged robot, suitable for both fun rides and use in disaster zones, looks set to be built after it successfully hit its target on crowdfunding site Kickstarter.

The robot is the brainchild of a group of hackers and hobbyists based in Somerville, Massachusetts.

They have raised $65,000 (£41,000) with 18 days left for fund-raising.

If $300,000 is … Read More → "Ride-on giant robot ‘Stompy’ hits funding target"

Every space capsule needs an escape system. But to be sure the safety net isn’t a death trap, it must be tested.

A do-it-yourself spaceflight program called Copenhagen Suborbitals tested their own launch escape system early on Sunday, Aug. 12 in the middle of the Baltic Sea.

The system didn’t quite work as intended. “We had perfect launch, but quickly the entire configuration began to tumble,” said … Read More → "DIY space capsule test launch ends with crushing splash"

NASA’s Curiosity Rover has had a historic week on the surface of Mars, executing a flawless landing on the Red Planet and firing up for its mission. But under the hood, the interplanetary explorer is powered by a pair of computers built by BAE Systems. They’re called RAD750′s. And it turns out that the radiation hardening that they need to operate on Mars isn’t all that different from … Read More → "Martian computing is light on RAM, heavy on radiation shielding"

People who study Google Satellite images have found curious objects in the images on more than one occasion. People have thought satellite images showed Atlantis, and we’ve seen images in the past that looked to be some sort of giant grid on the ground. A new batch of Google Earth satellite images have unveiled what some are saying are lost … Read More → "Google Earth satellite images may have discovered new Egyptian pyramids"

The science of how light interacts with matter is called quantum electrodynamics or QED and the theory on which it is based is one of the crowning achievements of 20th century physics.

Today, it lies at the heart of an emerging technology called circuit-QED, in which photons trapped on a silicon chip are made to interact with superconducting devices called artificial atoms, which have various energy levels just like real atoms. & … Read More → "How to build a phononic computer"

Amazing.

… Read More → "Check out what these guys caught underwater with their GoPro camera"

In the first week of competition at this year’s Olympic Games, nine world records fell in the swimming pool, including 17-year old Missy Franklin’s new standard in the 200-meter backstroke and Rebeccas Soni’s personal best in the 200 breaststroke, even though many of the previous records were set by swimmers wearing now-banned extra-buoyant suits.

Chinese weightlifter Zhou Lulu beat Russian rival Tatiana Kashirina with a combined total of 333 kilograms (734 pounds) in a two-part event, after Kashirina became the first woman ever to snatch more than 150 kilograms (331 pounds). And on the track, Usain Bolt broke … Read More → "Why do Olympic records keep getting broken?"

Chicago-based product development specialists Squibbles Ink, together with Rotofugi, have refurbished a vintage Mold-a-Rama machine to create a DIY vending machine that lets you make your own toy. 

Called the ‘Roto-a-Matic’, for a token that costs six dollars, the machine lets you make a plastic toy figure. 

The original Mold-a-Rama machine works by injecting molten polyethylene plastic into a mold, and blasting it with … Read More → "DIY vending machine lets you make your own toy"

Yesterday, the Royal New Zealand Air Force spotted a gigantic mass made from volcanic pumice rocks floating in the south Pacific. The total area of the “island” is about 9,000 square miles, or about the same size as New Jersey (and larger than Connecticut, Delaware, Rhode Island or the entire nation of Israel).
via DVICE

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